New photos unearthed from the doomed Challenger shuttle launch

[Phoenix86]

Add me to the list of "idiots" that didn't know they survived that long- I knew a decent amount about the tragedy but not that depressing detail...

Moron here too, I even knew about the details on the o-ring blowout temp issue, but not that one.

 

[Poulsonator]

I was in 6th grade when it happened, and like so many others, watched it happen live. >bviously it was all we talked about for some time. I remember speculation that they may have survived long enough to hit the water even back then. I'm not making a big deal out of it, because who cares if you did or did not already know, but it was something that may have been known not long after it happened.

 

[Anubis]

Seriously, you didn't know the crew was alive until it hit the ocean? What planet do you live on? This has been common knowledge for at least a decade if not more.:whiste::whiste:

im 32 and i didnt know this, im sure i read or was told it at somepoint in my life but its not something i commetted to memmory.

actually i was 5 ish when this happened and TBH i dont remember anything about it from back then

 

[olds]

I was an E5 in Germany when it happened. TV times were all different on AFN and when I turned on my TV and saw it I thought it was a SNL skit or some kind of joke. Took me a bit to realize it was real.

 

[7window]

was there in cocoa beach florida the day it happen. crazy day.

 

[olds]

was there in cocoa beach florida the day it happen. crazy day.

Did you see Jeanie?

 

[Hugo Drax]

NASA held back on the possibility of Crew survival at the time because they did not want to further upset the public.

The information was there but it was not something that was explicitly reported by the media.

 

[JBT]

I was 3 when it happened and maybe 13 when the second bit of information came, out. I certainly wasn't watching the news, I was probably riding my bike, playing video games, or doing algebra 1/2 or I.

 

[Micrornd]

NASA held back on the possibility of Crew survival at the time because they did not want to further upset the public.
The information was there but it was not something that was explicitly reported by the media.

All this info and when it was available, depends on where you were living at the time.

Here in central FL. it was reported 3 days later that a high level NASA source confirmed they believed the astronauts survived until impact as there were fragments of transmissions and astronaut telemetry (BP, heart rate, etc.) well after the infamous "uh-oh" transmission.

The fact that 90%+ of the shutttle, both boosters, the bodies of all (what was left) were recovered, that only 4 (incomplete) astronaut remains were identifiable (DNA was not used) and that the remaining unidentifiable remains were entombed with the Challenger's remains at the memorial site was reported, too, but is probably not common knowledge either.

Here in central FL. we knew about the Apollo 1 disaster within minutes of it happening.
It occurred just as the evening local news had ended and the network national news came on 6:30pm EST.
Local news interrupted and carried live the events and it was confirmed all 3 we're dead within an hour.

I well remember the sight of a smoking black pillar suddenly emanating from the gantry on the live TV playback shot, which we later learned was when the capsule hatch was opened.
Video of the capsule interior (after the remains were removed) were shown on local news in following days, that I don't believe went national, because of next of kin objections (but not NASA objections at the time, that came later).

Local stations "leaked" the Apollo 13 problem live after reporting it to the networks, which aired it 30-45 minutes later.

Being a big deal here in FL, nothing about the space programs goes unnoticed, unfilmed, or uninvestigated and high level inside sources are readily available and the local stations are not bashful about reporting, except for the clandestine military launches.

As I said, depends where you live.
We know nothing here about the infamous snowplow misdirection by New York's new mayor
++++++++++++++++++

BTW - VAB tours have been extended until 2/23, if you want to see inside, hurry as it may be your last chance, since it is being turned over to the next gen "Space Launch System" as an assembly area and will probably not be open to the public again.

 

[marincounty]

Read about the militarization of the space program and how Reagan was responsible for their deaths.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-film-the-challenger-disaster-another-cover-up/5355155

 

[DigDog]

bumpo for me because i need to find this thread tomorrow, when i can see the images (work blocks imgur...)

 

[Imp]

NASA held back on the possibility of Crew survival at the time because they did not want to further upset the public.

The information was there but it was not something that was explicitly reported by the media.

It's probably better to let people assume that the astronauts died instantly after thousands of tons of fuel exploded beside them. They died "because" the shuttle exploded is adequate for general knowledge.

Can't say I'm happy to know that they probably all survived for another few minutes with no hope until they hit the ocean at a few hundred miles per hour.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Read about the militarization of the space program and how Reagan was responsible for their deaths.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-film-the-challenger-disaster-another-cover-up/5355155

other than a very broad and alarmist claim, it describes nothing about the militarization of space. the fact is, for the majority of its existence, NASA was civilian only on paper. the soviet space program never claimed to be civilian.

the first genuine civilian astronaut flew in 1983, 3 years before mcauliffe but 22 years after gagarin.

the US had the manned orbiting laboratory (cancelled in 1969), the soviets had almaz (actually flown, complete with cannon - 1 unmanned test firing).

the mercury-gemini-apollo programs were almost entirely military, designed to be a propaganda machine as well as developing strategic and tactical knowledge. civilian science was just gravy.

the shuttle program (1 of the biggest boondoggles ever) was defined by its military and spy roles. in order to save money (hahaha) it was proposed to merge the nasa program with the air force's program. the air force only agreed because it would dominate the orbiter program:

the shuttle was bigger than originally planned, to accommodate spy satellites and polar orbits

the air force alone decided who could fly on the shuttles

civilian work always took a distant back seat to military work. the 1st purely civil science shuttle mission (22 years after the program began) was sts-107, the loss of columbia. after that, it was time to salvage what shuttle flights they could and complete the ISS (itself salvaged from military and propaganda money down the drain).

 

[marvdmartian]

You all know the Internet can be used for more than just Facebook and Twitter right?

Well, yeah! There's pron, too!

 

[TwiceOver]

We all gathered in the library to watch a teacher go into space on TV.

I don't remember how it was explained what happened. I guess we were all old enough to understand.

That was a long time ago.

 

[Cyco]

You all know the Internet can be used for more than just Facebook and Twitter right?

i'll take "better person from knowing random trivia" over "dipshit under a rock that don't know nuthin' about nuthin' no-how"

and, the challenger loss isn't random trivia. it certainly ranks as a major event of the 20th century.

Random trivia? It was on the news, it was on every website when it came out, it was a major disaster in many of our lifetimes. Common knowledge people, come on!!

Did you guys know that you guys were dicks? Because you are. Look, for those that were of age when it happened, we took things at face value because we had no other sources at the time. If you weren't old enough to have experienced the Challenger tragedy when it happened, fuck you, you don't know...

 

[BUTCH1]

Weight is everything in spacecraft.

The shuttle is already severely crippled in that it has too low a payload to orbit capacity because it exerts most of its effort just lifting itself.

Yes, the shuttle paled in comparison to the Saturn V in payload capacity but you have to keep in mind that it had to lift a large, bulky vehicle that could withstand re-entry and be reused, it was hoped that the cost of each flight would eventually scale down to make it somewhat less expensive but that never materialized. At least they got to re-use the same spacecraft's hundreds of times though and the SRB's were rebuildable as well..

 

[QueBert]

Add me to the list of idiots who didn't know they technically survived the explosion. I should have figured though that on ATOT you'd find people who are smug and insulting even with something like this.

 

[Paladin3]

I was a senior in high school when Challenger and her astronauts met their end. We were watching it live in class and it hit hard. An announcement was made several minutes later and I could tell our principal, normally a pretty calm guy, was rather shaken. The sense of national tragedy was huge, and I will never forget Regan's "slipped the surly bonds of earth" speech later that day.

At the time I was working at a local theme park where we had a bunch of those claw games where you fish for prizes. They were named "Challenger" and had a graphic of the space shuttle with the remote arm extended. We scrambled to remove the graphic and name from the games before our next opening.

Years later, the newspaper I worked for sent me to photograph Columbia arriving at Boeing's Plant 42 in Palmdale, CA for modification. I was able to get up close after it was hangered and stood directly underneath her in awe. I could have gone onboard, but didn't have time to suit up to do so because of my deadline. I whined to my editor, but since we routinely covered the shuttle program he assured me there would be plenty of other opportunities for me to go onboard an orbiter.

Of course, Columbia's next flight was her last.

My photo (not my flickr page):

 

[Micrornd]

Since apparently news about the US space programs is disseminated differently around the country (and apparently the world also) then what we find out here in FL, I'll throw out another tidbit for discussion/disbelief.

ALL vehicle launches from all US launch sites, contain flight termination charges (FTCs) for all parts of the vehicle.
These were one of the first suspected areas in the Challenger and subsequent Columbia disasters.
Both were ruled out almost immediately based on monitored telemetry from respective RSOs (Range Safety Officer)
The boosters on the Challenger launch were "terminated", but later than was desired "by plan" because of the shock of the situation.
(This is readily seen in the long version of the breakup tape)

To date FTCs have only been used on launch vehicles and "non-occupied" payloads.

Just something to think about if you ever get the hankering to sit a roman candle, strapped to a can of explosives, taking to a place with no air.
You might want to remember that there is a someone on the ground ready to push a red button to "terminate" you and your ride if it is "necessary" :whiste: